William b



W. B. FOSTER.

FASTENER FOR SLIDING SIDE CRIBS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 22, I914.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

WILLIAM B. FOSTER, OF UTICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 FOSTER BROTHERS MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF UTICA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION.

FASTENEEL FOR SLIDING-SIDE CRIBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ring. 15, 11916.

Application filed September 22, 1914. Serial No. 863,011.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. Fosrnn, of Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for Sliding-Side Cribs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had I to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My present invention relates to fastening devices adapted to hold the sliding side of a crib in upward or raised position.

The purpose of my present invention is to provide an improved fastener of the character described and particularly to provide a fastener which is simple in construction and operation.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide a device of the 'sort described wherein a gravity latch is mounted upon the same bracket which is ordinarily used to support the sliding side guide rod and to have such latch swing inthe plane of the axes of said postand said guide rod instead of at right angles thereto.

A still further purpose of my invention is to provide a fastener of the character described which has a gravity latch adapted to be swung back from holding position but provided with means locking said latch from so swinging from holding position except when the latch is raised out of locking position.

A further purpose is to provide a fastener of the character last above mentioned which after each operation will of its own weight return to locking position and furthermore which will allow upward movement of the projection from the crib side to raise the latch from locking position and allow the projection to pass thereby.

A still further purposeof my invention is to provide a device of the character described which is simple in operation butiso constructed as to make its accidental operation practically impossible and its operation by a child handling the parts very improbable.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper part 'of the corner of a sliding side crib embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 but with the latch in raised and retracted position and with the crib side projection moved partly down therepast. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the latch used in this fastener.

Each corner post 5 of the crib has supported in spaced relation therefrom a guide rod 6 as by means of a bracket 7 secured to the post by screw Sand having its upper arm 9 receive the upper end of the said guide rod 6. Upon the guide rod 6 is slidingly mounted a projection 10 from the crib side which projection may conveniently be secured to or integral with the outer end of the usual upper bar 11 forming a part of 13 as by means of a pin 14: piercing the bracket arms 12 and extending loosely through an elongatedsubstantially vertical slot 15 in the upperhalf of said latch 13. It will be seen that this construction not only pivotally mounts the latch 13 upon said bracket but also allows the latch to have a sliding movement in a substantially vertical direction, that is up and down upon said pin 14- for the length of said slot 15. The Weight of said latch causes the latch to slide to its lower position and its shape is such as to cause the outward projection 13 of said latch to project out from said bracket to ward the guide rod 6. The outwardly projecting end 13 of said latch is provided with laterally extending shoulders 16 rendering the upper part of the outwardly projecting end 13 broader than the space between the ends of bracketarms 12. This breadth of the point of the latch prevents in an obvious manner the point of said latch being retracted while the latch is in its normal lower position. As soon as the latchis raised to its upper position the shoulders 16 are above the top of bracket arms 12 and thereupon free pivotal motion of the latch may take place and the projecting point of the latch may then be retracted from the path of the projection 10.

Assuming that the crib side is in ralsed position the latch will be in its lowered position with its point 13 projecting out toward guide rods 6 and supporting there i to lowered position.

above the projection 10 and thereby the sliding side. The crib side is moved to lowered position by the person temporarily raising the latch 13 to upward position by pressure applied to the lower end 13 of the latch 13 and then retracting the engaging outwardly projecting end 13 of the latch by outward movement of the lower end of the latch. This brings the latch to the position shown in Fig. 3 and allows the projection 10 to .move down past the point 13 of the latch.

As soon as the projection has passed point 13 of the latch the latch swings back to normal engaging position and slides down to its lower position indicated in Fig. 1.

The sliding side of the crib is raised from lowered to raised position without manual operation of the latch as the projection 10 on its upward movement automatically operates the latch. This is done through the projection 10 coming into camming engagement with the lower surface 13 of the engaging point 13 of the latch and thereby raising the latch to its upward position and then forcing it back to retracted position and thus allowing the crib side projection to pass thereby. As soon as the projection has passed the latch the latch swings back to engaging position and under its own weight or through its own weight and that of its sliding side is then moved It will thus be seen that when the sliding side of the crib is in raised position the latch 13 will be in locked position so that the latch cannot be retracted from supporting position by a plain swinging motion of the latch but that the latch must be raised and then swung in order to retract the latch from supporting position. As the weight of the sliding side tends to keep the latch very positively in lowered position it will thus be seen that accidental release of the latch is practically impossible to occur and that any handling of the latch by persons near the crib or by a child in the crib is not apt to produce these two necessary motions of raising the Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the latch and then swinging it in the necessary sequence.

It will be obvious that modifications may be made in this device without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fastener for sliding side cribs the combination of a crib post, a guide rod supported in spaced relation therefrom, a projection from the crib side slidingly mounted on said guide rod, a bracket on said post adjacent the upper end of said guide rod and extending theretoward and a gravity latch pivotally and slidably mounted on said bracket with its outer point projecting toward said guide rod and adapted to support said crib side projection and means locking said latch from being swung back from supporting position except when said latch is moved upwardly.

2. In a fastener for sliding side cribs the combination of a crib post, a guide rod supported in spaced relation therefrom, a projection from the crib side slidingly mounted on said guide rod, a bracket on said post adjacent the upper end of said guide rod and extending theretoward, a gravity latch pivotally and slidably mounted on said bracket with its outer point projecting toward said guide rod an adapted to support said crib side projection and means locking said latch from being swung back from supporting position except when said latch'is moved upwardly, upward movement of said projection against the outer point of said latch being adapted to raise said latch from locked position and then move said latch to retracted position and allow said projection to pass thereby.

In witness whereof I have afiixed my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 3rd day of Sept, 1914.

WILLIAM B. FOSTER.

WVitnesses:

HARRIET WILLIAMS, H. EDNA GRIFFIN.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

